Wifi printer and offline AutoIP issue

[andyoxon]

For a while now we've had and issue with a Epson wifi printer being offline when trying to print.  It does print initially when the PC and printer are restarted, and remains online for a while, but not permanently...

I test-printed the printer network details in it's offline state and noticed that the configuration source was "AutoIP", with some non-router related IP address.  After restarting, and the print coming straight out of the printer off the print queue, the configuration was DHCP and an IP address as an increment of the router IP address.  This seems to get lost after a while.

I've tried reserving the IP address the printer was using through the router page listing of devices, but then the PC lost wifi connection (not sure why) - so thought I better restore settings.

Any ideas re. getting the printer to stay online and ready to print over time?

[Kim]

Can you statically configure its IP address?  Preferably to something the DHCP server isn't going to hand out to anything else.

[Jaded]

Wot Kim said.

Most routers allow you to do this, usually by allocating a MAC address to a specific IP on the local network. This might not be possible on simpler, more locked down ones such as those you get given by the ISP.

[Kim]

Most routers allow you to do this, usually by allocating a MAC address to a specific IP on the local network. This might not be possible on simpler, more locked down ones such as those you get given by the ISP.

I'm a big fan of static leases (addresses are consistent and all your configuration is in one place).

But a static lease isn't the same thing as statically configuring the network settings on the host (which means it just uses the configured address, rather than doing DHCP to obtain it).  In this instance it looks suspiciously like the printer is being having problems doing DHCP for some reason, which is why I suggested static configuration.

[andyoxon]

Thanks both.  I've managed to find a part of the printer driver to 'confirm' the IP address, so far it's holding.

[andyoxon]

Still up to it's old tricks.

edit. managed to get the printer to accept a static (hopefully) IP address ending .1.200 , using the printer browser network config page.

Let's see...

[Afasoas]

It might be worth setting 1.200 as a DHCP reservation on your router so that it doesn't get allocated to any other devices on your network.

[David Martin]

I found the same issue with my new Brother Wifi printer. Apparently it does that unless you set it as the default printer.